Member Article

Windows legacy migration set to accelerate digital transformation

Digital transformation is usually a very company-specific process, but sometimes market drivers create a sudden change in tempo, like Microsoft’s imminent ‘end of life’ warnings accelerating digital transformation for many organisations - especially SMEs

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 are both reaching end of life on 14 January 2020. In just a few days, those two products will theoretically become officially ‘unsupported’ by Microsoft, which means there will no longer be free security updates on-premises, non-security updates, free support options or online technical content updates.

Recognising the potential threat to enterprises running Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft has stated that: “Customers who cannot meet the end-of-support deadline may purchase Extended Security Updates to keep server workloads protected until they upgrade”. However, Microsoft has also recommended that enterprise customers migrate as soon as possible to the cloud-based Microsoft Azure.

Business disruption, security updates and digital transformation

The considerable business disruption caused by the Windows’ ‘end of life’ switch off could be considerable. Along with the estimated 36% of the OS market still running Windows 7 (second only to Windows 10 at 43%), many of the current business Windows 7 users may be running the ageing OS because of the perceived cost of vital control software and software updates. Without access to timely security updates though, businesses run a very high risk of encountering security issues. Recent research even shows that attacks on legacy Windows platforms are in no way decreasing. Microsoft itself warned earlier this year against the dangers of running unpatched older versions of Windows, as the option to do so would no longer be readily available to Windows 7 users as of January 2020.

There is a significant drive for millions of enterprise Microsoft users to move towards cloud-based solutions, to not only solve the end of life challenge, but also offer those users opportunities for valuable digital transformation of business processes. However, there are also a number of pitfalls to be navigated in the migration process itself and in the delivery, which we have been actively discussing with clients for some months now. Interestingly, when it comes to larger enterprise processes relating to digital transformation and cloud migration, SMEs can learn a lot from larger enterprises as the wider enterprise pain points are ones that have been extensively documented over recent years.

Roadmaps

The most important step in responding to a digital transformation challenge such as Microsoft end of life is to build out a roadmap and budget for change over a longer set period – typically three years. For example, an SME with current on-premise Windows Server 2008 could seek to offload the management of systems while leveraging products which are typically already up and running, like Office365 and SharePoint. Building in automation with Microsoft Flow (under Office365) is a common next step. Then, the SME could consider application modernisation and either remain on-premise or move to an Azure cloud-based model.

Budgeting

Budgeting is key for any enterprise, but especially SMEs. A roadmap here can be particularly beneficial as mapping out the full roadmap and then drip-feeding the solutions to meet a manageable budget is a successful approach. This way means that the potential of each phase can be realised, before going to the next phase. A gradual approach is always better in digital transformation projects, not only as people find it difficult to embrace too much change all happening at the same time, but also because core business functions still need to operate during the transfer process period.

Automation

Automation is fast becoming a key business driver, especially on the data side, and SMEs are waking up to the fact that they can adopt Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence to automate tasks and provide accurate information in real-time, rather than employ multiple personnel to number crunch and provide reports.

Off-the-shelf packages such as PowerBI for Business Intelligence and Microsoft Flow for automation are gaining traction and this increasing adoption, in a digital transformation context, is likely to accelerate over the coming years. For enterprises planning a complex migration, automation tools might seem like running before you can walk. However, in truth, the processing of data - and actually finding the data in the first place - provides an excellent starting point for either and both requirements.

Insights

Being able to gain actionable insights from enterprise data is set to be the standout feature of successful SMEs. Enabling businesses to have lean operations while, at the same time, maximising profit is one of the many benefits of a successful migration to the cloud and use of automation. Both are trends that have been underway for some time in the larger enterprise sector, but with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 end of life as a catalyst, many SMEs will be making the leap over the next few months, hopefully with considerable success!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by OGL Computer .